Making Up Is Hard to Do

Steve Weinbergwants to know where all the great journalism novels are:

Far too often…here is what I take away from journalism novels: As a group we experience a lot of sexual intercourse on the job, lack scruples when gathering information, and solve murders frequently enough to eliminate the need for homicide detectives in certain metropolitan areas. Good fun, I suppose, but disheartening because journalism should come across as something more noble.

Weinberg briefly notes Mike Sager‘s forthcoming novel about D.C.’s crack years, Deviant Behavior, a seriocomic, George Pelecanos-meets-Christopher Buckley tale that focuses on a reporter at a stand-in for the Post, the Washington Herald. I’m halfway through and it’s entertaining so far, but I suspect it won’t be the newsroom Moby-Dick Weinberg wants. I’m at a loss to think of any great books about reporters anyway. As the Mekons put it, “Turning journalists into heroes takes some doing.”